On 7/25/06, Bob Shell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Which part do you consider bullshit? What the man proposes to teach, > or the university defending his right to teach it? Personally, I > think freedom of speech must encompass ideas that the mainstream > considers repugnant. Right you are, Bob! For one thing, at university, they call them "professors" for a reason. To profess is merely to affirm a belief. At a post-secondary level, the assumption is that students are at a level that they can research the professors affirmations and form their own opinions as to whether the professor is right or wrong. Up to the end of high school we have "teachers". To teach is to impart knowledge. The distinction between teachers and professors is an important one. This guy in Wisconson may (or may not be) a nutbar, but I defend his right to lecture whatever he wants. Moreso, I defend his university's right to pay him and have him lecture there. The fact that tax dollars go to that university does not give the taxpayers or the legislature the right to demand that the guy gets sacked. At most, it gives them the right to pull those tax dollars out of the place, but then 90% or more of the students will be harmed due to (what's portrayed as) the rantings of this loonie. The other thing, of course, is that perhaps, just perhaps, if someone actually sat in on this guy's course and read the materials, he might have a few accurate things to say, and he might have evidence to back up his assertions. Stranger things have happened. It's hard to judge based on a newspaper article - and a biased one, at that. I've got to admit, I always wondered how it is that the Pentagon isn't one of the best defended buildings in the world, with all the latest detection devices and radar and defences. I've always thought it a bit strange that something as complex and difficult to pilot as a modern airliner, flown by a rank amateur, managed to get through those defences and score a direct hit. I'm not saying this guy's right, but it makes one wonder. cheers, frank -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
